1 Kings 16

• 1. This message from the LORD was delivered to King Baasha by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani:
• 2. "I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler of my people Israel, but you have followed the evil example of Jeroboam. You have aroused my anger by causing my people to sin.
• 3. So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I destroyed the descendants of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
• 4. Those of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by the vultures."
• 5. The rest of the events in Baasha's reign and the extent of his power are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
• 6. When Baasha died, he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became the next king.
• 7. This message from the LORD had been spoken against Baasha and his family through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. It was delivered because Baasha had done what was evil in the LORD's sight, arousing him to anger by his sins, just like the family of Jeroboam, and also because Baasha had destroyed the family of Jeroboam.
• 8. Elah son of Baasha began to rule over Israel from Tirzah in the twenty-sixth year of King Asa's reign in Judah. He reigned in Israel two years.
• 9. Then Zimri, who commanded half of the royal chariots, made plans to kill him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk at the home of Arza, the supervisor of the palace.
• 10. Zimri walked in and struck him down and killed him. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa's reign in Judah. Then Zimri became the next king.
• 11. Zimri immediately killed the entire royal family of Baasha, and he did not leave a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends.
• 12. So Zimri destroyed the dynasty of Baasha as the LORD had promised through the prophet Jehu.
• 13. This happened because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah and because of all the sins they led Israel to commit, arousing the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, with their idols.
• 14. The rest of the events in Elah's reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Zimri Rules in Israel
• 15. Zimri began to rule over Israel from Tirzah in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa's reign in Judah, but he reigned only seven days. When the army of Israel, which was then engaged in attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon,
• 16. heard that Zimri had assassinated the king, they chose Omri, commander of the army, as their new king.
• 17. So Omri led the army of Israel away from Gibbethon to attack Tirzah, Israel's capital.
• 18. When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned it down over himself and died in the flames.
• 19. For he, too, had done what was evil in the LORD's sight and followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.
• 20. The rest of the events of Zimri's reign and his conspiracy are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Omri Rules in Israel
• 21. But now the people of Israel were divided into two groups. Half the people tried to make Tibni son of Ginath their king, while the other half supported Omri.
• 22. But Omri's supporters defeated the supporters of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni was killed, and Omri became the next king.
• 23. Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-first year of King Asa's reign in Judah. He reigned twelve years in all, six of them in Tirzah.
• 24. Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver. He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.
• 25. But Omri did what was evil in the LORD's sight, even more than any of the kings before him.
• 26. He followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. Thus, he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.
• 27. The rest of the events in Omri's reign, the extent of his power, and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
• 28. When Omri died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Ahab became the next king.
• 29. Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.
• 30. But Ahab did what was evil in the LORD's sight, even more than any of the kings before him.
• 31. And as though it were not enough to live like Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to worship Baal.
• 32. First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.
• 33. Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
• 34. It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died. And when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. This all happened according to the message from the LORD concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

Colossians 3

• 1. Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power.
• 2. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.
• 3. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
• 4. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
• 5. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don't be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.
• 6. God's terrible anger will come upon those who do such things.
• 7. You used to do them when your life was still part of this world.
• 8. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
• 9. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.
• 10. In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.
• 11. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
• 12. Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
• 13. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
• 14. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.
• 15. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
• 16. Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
• 17. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
• 18. You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.
• 19. And you husbands must love your wives and never treat them harshly.
• 20. You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord.
• 21. Fathers, don't aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying.
• 22. You slaves must obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Obey them willingly because of your reverent fear of the Lord.
• 23. Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
• 24. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ.
• 25. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites who can get away with evil.

Ezekiel 46

• 1. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The east gateway of the inner wall will be closed during the six workdays each week, but it will be open on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.
• 2. The prince will enter the foyer of the gateway from the outside. Then he will stand by the gatepost while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He will worship inside the gateway passage and then go back out the way he came. The gateway will not be closed until evening.
• 3. The common people will worship the LORD in front of this gateway on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.
• 4. "Each Sabbath day the prince will present to the LORD a burnt offering of six lambs and one ram, all with no physical defects.
• 5. He will present a grain offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount of flour he chooses to go with each lamb. He is to offer one gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of flour.
• 6. At the new moon celebrations, he will bring one young bull, six lambs, and one ram, all with no physical defects.
• 7. With the young bull he must bring a half bushel of flour for a grain offering. With the ram he must bring another half bushel of flour. And with each lamb he is to bring whatever amount of flour that he decides to give. With each half bushel of flour he must offer one gallon of olive oil.
• 8. "The prince must enter the gateway through the foyer, and he must leave the same way he came.
• 9. But when the people come in through the north gateway to worship the LORD during the religious festivals, they must leave by the south gateway. And those who entered through the south gateway must leave by the north gateway. They must never leave by the same gateway they came in; they must always use the opposite gateway.
• 10. The prince will enter and leave with the people on these occasions.
• 11. "So at the special feasts and sacred festivals, the grain offering will be a half bushel of flour with each young bull, another half bushel of flour with each ram, and as much flour as the prince chooses to give with each lamb. One gallon of oil is to be given with each half bushel of flour.
• 12. Whenever the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering or peace offering to the LORD, the east gateway to the inner courtyard will be opened for him to enter, and he will offer his sacrifices just as he does on Sabbath days. Then he will turn and leave the way he entered, and the gateway will be shut behind him.
• 13. "Each morning a year-old lamb with no physical defects must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the LORD.
• 14. With the lamb, a grain offering must also be given to the LORD--about two and a half quarts of flour with a third of a gallon of olive oil to moisten the flour. This will be a permanent law for you.
• 15. The lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil must be given as a daily sacrifice every morning without fail.
• 16. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him and his descendants forever.
• 17. But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Jubilee, which comes every fiftieth year. At that time the servant will be set free, and the land will return to the prince. Only the gifts given to the prince's sons will be permanent.
• 18. And the prince may never take anyone's property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I do not want any of my people unjustly evicted from their property."
• 19. Then the man brought me through the entrance beside the gateway and led me to the sacred rooms assigned to the priests, which faced toward the north. He showed me a place at the extreme west end of these rooms.
• 20. He explained, "This is where the priests will cook the meat from the guilt offerings and sin offerings and bake the flour from the grain offerings into bread. They will do it here to avoid carrying the sacrifices through the outer courtyard and harming the people by transmitting holiness to them."
• 21. Then he brought me back to the outer courtyard and led me to each of its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosure.
• 22. Each of these enclosures was 70 feet long and 52 1/2 feet wide, surrounded by walls.
• 23. Along the inside of these walls was a ledge of stone with fireplaces under the ledge all the way around.
• 24. The man said to me, "These are the kitchens to be used by the Temple assistants to boil the sacrifices offered by the people."

New Living Translation: 286 of 365 days.